Check-punch



M 'HIRSH.

UHECK PUNCH.

(No Model.)

o. 597,413. Patented Jan. 18, 1898.

27A fiz /565565 m: mums PEHIRS co. moron-mu. WASHNGTON u. :4

UNITED STATES PATENT trues.

MANUEh mass, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CHECK- PUNCH.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 597,413, dated January18, 1898.

Application filed July 16, 1896.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MANUEL Hmsn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Check-Punches, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for perforating orpunching checks and other negotiable or valuable papers to insureagainst the amount or other matter therein being altered withoutdetection; and my invention is more particularly designed for the use ofsmall merchants and private parties whose business or need for acheckpunch does not warrant the considerable outlay necessary to procurea punch of the desirable and effective types heretofore known.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved, effective, andinexpensive checkpunch of the described character.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain features ofnovelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts bywhich the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearingare attained, all as described in the specification, shown in thedrawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my improvedcheck-punch. Fig. 2 is a front view thereof. Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detailplan view of the movable jaw and check-feeding carriage hereinafterdescribed, and Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view illustratingcertain modifications hereinafter described. 1

In carrying out my invention I employ a frame 1, which is so formed asto constitute a handle if it should be desired to hold the. check in thehand while operating it, but this frame is provided at one end with adownturned foot portion 2, which serves to support the frame 1 upon thetable in a substantially horizontal position, the other end of the frame1 being formed with a bifurcated end whoselower fork or prong 3 curvesdownwardly and is provided with laterally-extending foot portions 4,which serve, in conj unc- Serial No. 599,402. (No model.)

tion with the foot-piece 2, to support the device squarely upon thetable should it be desired to use it in a horizontal position. The otherfork or member 5 of this bifurcated end of the frame curves upwardly andover the member 3' and has journaled on its outer end a die-wheel 6,upon whose periphery are formed dies 7 in the shape of characters orfigures, which serve to out or punch the check or paper. pin 8, which isjournaled loosely in the arm or member 5, so as to rotate freelytherein, and may be held against withdrawal from such arm by an ysuitable device-such, for instance, as a pin 9 passing through the arm 5and engaging in a peripheral groove in the pivot 8. The outer extremityof the pivot 8 is formed with a knob 10, which serves as a means forrotating the die-wheel 6 to the desiredposition, and in order that theoperator may readily determine when the proper die has reached aposition immediately under This wheel 6 is secured to a pivotthe centerof the wheel 6, the rear face of the wheel 6 is provided with a numberof notches 11, having beveled or V-shaped edges in which engages anelastic or spring-actuated dog or detent 12, which is mounted in asocket in an upward extension 5 of the arm 5 and is held normally inengagement with the notches 11 by means of a suitable spring 13, but theedges of the notches 11 are not suificiently abrupt to prevent therotation of the die-wheel when sufficient power is applied by the knob10. If desired, the characters 7 may be duplicated on the outer face ofthe die-wheel 6, so as to be visible to the operator and enable him todetermine the position of the die at the under side of the wheel, orsuch characters may be duplicated on the periphery of the wheel 6 to oneside of the dies 7 and in such a relation thereto that the duplicatenumber will be at the top and opposite the extension 5 when the diecorresponding thereto is at the bottom of the die- Wheel and in positionto effect the punching firmly against the dies 7 and causing the pa pertobe punched or perforated without injury to the die, thus avoiding thenecessity of employing a female die. This opening 21 is about as long asa line composed of six or eight numbers, which are snlficient to expressthe maximum amount of checks used in ordinary business, and the rawhidefilling 22 may be of a, similar length, or,-if desired, a small block 22of the rawhide filling may be arranged immediately under the center ofvthe wheel 6, so that it will always be under the die doing the punching.When such modification is employed, the rawhide filling would of coursebe permanently fixed in the block 17 and would be independent of theplate 20, so that the latter might move forward with the check, thefilling 22 in this instance, of course being projected upwardly throughthe opening in the plate 20, so as to be flush with the surface of thelatter, and a portion of the block 17, if desired, being also extendedupwardly flush with the surface of the plate 20, so as to prevent thefilling 22 from being mashed out of shape, as shown in Fig. 5. Securedto the upper side of this plate 20 is a check-holder composed,preferably, of a sheet of thin metal, comprising a horizontal flatportion 23, having an opening or slot 24, coinciding with the slot 21 inthe plate 20, and a pair of arms 25, arranged at each end of the plate23, which curve rearwardly, upwardly, and then forwardly, and carry overthe plate 23 a second plate 26, which is immediately over and parallelwith the plate 23, and is also provided with an opening which iscoincident with the opening in the plate 23, the purpose of theseopenings in the plates 23 26 being to permit the dies 7 to come intoengagement with the check. The outer edges of the plates 23 26 arecurved in opposite directions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to becapable ofreadily receiving the check between them. The arms 25 arecurved upwardly in the manner de scribed for the purpose of permittingthe check being pushed under the punch the desired distance. The ends ofthe plate 26 have struck-up tongues 27, which curve downwardly againstthe plate 23 and form means for clamping the check against the plate 23and causing it to move forward with the plate 20 and parts 23 26, whichconstitute the checkcarriage.

The inner edge of the plate 20 is provided with a series of teeth 28,and pivoted to a boss or projection 29 on the under side of the arm 5 isa pawl, in the form of a bell-crank lever, whose one arm 30 is pivotedto a link 31, which is connected at its lower end by a pivotpin 32 tothe block 17. The other arm 33 of this pawl is in the form of a flatspring, which presses against the notched edge 28 of the plate 20 andwhich when the block 17 rises and falls in the act of punching the checkengages with the teeth 28 and causes the plate 20 and parts carriedthereby to move forward the distance of one space. When the block 17descends, the spring passes over the teeth 28 without moving the plate20 and engages with the neXt tooth in readiness to advance the plate 20another space. In order that the plate 20 may not be given a retrogrademovement by the friction of the spring 33 in passing over the inclinesof the teeth 28, I provide a dog 34, which is so arranged as to engagebehind the teeth 28 and prevent the said retrograde movement of theplate 20, but as the plate moves forward this spring is antomaticallydeflected by the advancing tooth and drops behind the succeeding toothwhen the movement of the plate 20 ceases. This dog 34 is formed with ashaft 35, which is j on rnaled in perforated ears orlugs 36, formed onthe side of the arm 15, and it is provided with a releasing-lever orthumb-piece 37, which, if desired, may be formed with a springtailpiece38, hearing against the side of the arm 15 and serving to hold the dog34 normally in engagement with the teeth 28, as shown in Fig. 4. Whenthe thumb-pieec 37 is pressed toward the'arm 15, the dog 34 will be.released and the check-carriage, with the plate 20, may be returned toits former position.

The arm 3 is split, as shown at 39, Figs. 2 and 3, so as to form anopening, and in this opening is pivoted on a pin 40 an operatinglever41, whose upper end projects upwardly through an opening 42 in theportions 1 and 5, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and its relationto the portion 1 is such that the punch may be held in one hand and thelever 41 and portion 1 squeezed together for operatingthe device. Thelower end of the lever 41 is provided with an upturned portion 43, inwhich is j ournaled a roller 44, the upturned portion 43 being providedwith ears 45, in which a pin or pintle 46 of the roller 44 is journaledat each end. This roller bears under the plate or block 17 andserves toforce the section of rawhide supported thereon firmly against the lowerone of the dies 7 and thus punch the check. If desired, the under sideof the block 17 may be provided with slotted flanges 47, in which slotsthe ends of the pintles 46 are continued, so as to compel the plate 17to descend when the pressure on the lever 41 is released. Then the partsare in their normal position, the flanges 47 rest upon the upper edgesof the foot-pieces 4.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A check-punch having in combination a frame, a die-wheel pivoted tosaid frame, a jaw pivoted to said frame, a lever pivoted in said frameand having a roller provided with projecting pintles and being adaptedto engage with said jaw and force it against said die-wheel, said jawbeing provided with slotted flanges in which said pintles engage,substantially as set forth.

2. A check-punch having in combination a die-wheel, a pivoted jawarranged under said die-whee1, means for forcing said jaw toward saidwheel, a check carriage or support sliding upon said jaw and beingprovided with the overhanging plate 26 provided with downturued tongues27 for gripping the check, substantially as set forth. a

3. A check-punch having in combination the frame 1 provided with thefeet 2 4 and the arms 3 5, a rotary die-wheel pivoted to 20 said arm 5,a jaw pivoted between the arms 3 5, the lever 41 pivoted in said frameand engaging under said jaw for forcing it toward said die-wheel, andmeans for holding and advancing the check between said jaw and die- 25

